Due to the advancing state of the art in the projection or lithographic printing field, it has become highly desirable to be able to provide image geometries of less than 2 microns and very high device packing densities. In order to most advantageously obtain same, it has become highly desirable that projection imaging wavelengths in the deep ultra-violet (UV) region of below about 300 nm be employed. It is therefore desirable that suitable deep UV resist compositions be available for use with imaging wavelengths in the deep UV region.
Recently U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,522 to R. Balamson et al., issued July 13, 1982 and assigned to International Business Machines Corporation, disclosed such a deep UV resist composition which comprises phenolic-aldehyde resins sensitized with Meldrum's acid diazo or a homologue thereof.
A need exists for other such deep UV resists and especially deep UV resists providing for improved image resolution characteristics. Especially useful would be deep UV resist compositions providing good resolution of 0.75 micron lines or smaller.